Unofficial Nightmare Movie?
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 10:44 amI came across this trailer recently for a film called Beyond the Gates. The movie is available in a few places. I managed to pick it up from VUDU for about $10. I don't think anyone here could possibly watch this trailer and not immediately see the connection to our favorite video board games...
Description: Two estranged brothers reunite at their missing father's video store to liquidate the property and sell off his assets. As they dig through the store, they find a VCR board game dubbed 'Beyond The Gates' that holds a connection to their father's disappearance and deadly consequences for anyone who plays it.
As mentioned the film follows two brothers as they go to box up their father's belongings after he vanishes for nearly a year and during the course they find the game of the film's title. Not before making a comment about those old VHS games where they "make you turn off the lights and get in front of the TV so they can scream at you." There's even a more specific nod later where they introduce one brother's girlfriend to the game who's never heard of a video board game. "There where a lot of them, like Gatekeeper and Nightmare..."
The movie itself has little to do with the lore of Nightmare/Atmosfear, but the aesthetic is outstandingly obvious. The box looks like someone took a Sharpie to the original box. Inside is the same blue tray holding the tokens. The board (while a tri-fold like Nightmare) resembles more of the board for Clue and had more to do with showing what rooms things where in than actually existing as a playable game. However the winks and nods where rather nice. I especially loved the start of the cursed tape that began with "TURN THE LIGHTS DOWN AND THE VOLUME WAY UP".
For the most part it's a pretty good horror flick, not the greatest under any circumstances, but it's a pretty fun ride for people who grew up playing Nightmare. The reactions felt pretty genuine for the situations and the writing wasn't too awful. The violence, when it happens, is extremely gratuitous though. At one point you get to watch someone's head explode from up close and then see it closer still while they go searching in it for one of the needed keys.
Still, it's worth a watch if you like horror movies and if you need more 80's nostalgia you can get the soundtrack on vinyl from Mondo. https://mondotees.com/products/beyond-the-gates-original-motion-picture-score
Description: Two estranged brothers reunite at their missing father's video store to liquidate the property and sell off his assets. As they dig through the store, they find a VCR board game dubbed 'Beyond The Gates' that holds a connection to their father's disappearance and deadly consequences for anyone who plays it.
As mentioned the film follows two brothers as they go to box up their father's belongings after he vanishes for nearly a year and during the course they find the game of the film's title. Not before making a comment about those old VHS games where they "make you turn off the lights and get in front of the TV so they can scream at you." There's even a more specific nod later where they introduce one brother's girlfriend to the game who's never heard of a video board game. "There where a lot of them, like Gatekeeper and Nightmare..."
The movie itself has little to do with the lore of Nightmare/Atmosfear, but the aesthetic is outstandingly obvious. The box looks like someone took a Sharpie to the original box. Inside is the same blue tray holding the tokens. The board (while a tri-fold like Nightmare) resembles more of the board for Clue and had more to do with showing what rooms things where in than actually existing as a playable game. However the winks and nods where rather nice. I especially loved the start of the cursed tape that began with "TURN THE LIGHTS DOWN AND THE VOLUME WAY UP".
For the most part it's a pretty good horror flick, not the greatest under any circumstances, but it's a pretty fun ride for people who grew up playing Nightmare. The reactions felt pretty genuine for the situations and the writing wasn't too awful. The violence, when it happens, is extremely gratuitous though. At one point you get to watch someone's head explode from up close and then see it closer still while they go searching in it for one of the needed keys.
Still, it's worth a watch if you like horror movies and if you need more 80's nostalgia you can get the soundtrack on vinyl from Mondo. https://mondotees.com/products/beyond-the-gates-original-motion-picture-score